Facebook Marketing Myths You Need To Steer Clear Of

Facebook marketing can be extremely profitable when you go about it the right way. Their PPC program can provide hundreds, if not thousands of hits daily at a low price, and if you choose to create a fan page and engage in social media marketing then you can get a following that is loyal and very large. However, having said that if you don’t watch out for the Facebook marketing myths then you could be led down the wrong path with regards to how to market your business on there, and that will hurt your bottom line significantly, so read on for some myths you must avoid.

Do Not Buy Fans

When building a fan page you want to get as many fans as you can get, as this will increase interaction with the fan page, and the more fans you get the more chances you have of your page getting shared. The more interactive the fans are the better it is for you because people on Facebook are attracted to interactive fan pages where they can interact not only with the fan page, but also with other members of the community. Furthermore, because your fans will lack interactivity you will as a result have a smaller chance of appearing in the news feed, as an expert from iMedia Connection explains:

Interactions create the affinity score that is then factored into the EdgeRank algorithm. If you’ve bought fans who do not engage, it’s less likely that you’ll earn a spot on the news feed. So, not only can you rank yourself right out of the news feed, but it also isn’t authentic.

Facebook Marketing Doesn’t Have To Take A Lot Of Time

One myth that needs to be dispelled is that Facebook marketing has to take a long time when in fact all you need to do is create a fan page, and then update it a few times a week to get some results. Of course, it would also help if you respond to comments that your fans make, but if you get a lot of comments then this can get very time consuming. What you could do instead to save time is to look at what kind of questions your fans are asking and post updates that answer those questions. Social Media Examiner explains when you compare Facebook marketing with other forms of marketing it really isn’t that bad:

If you think about comparing it to traditional business networking and the traveling and time commitment that takes, you’ll begin to realize that networking on Facebook is great because it can be done at your convenience.

You might even be able to outsource your Facebook marketing to an internet marketing company that specializes in such forms of marketing. Usually any investment in social marketing that you make will be worth it in the end because of the increase in visitors that you get to your landing pages.

You Don’t Own Your Facebook Account

You need to understand from the outset that anything that you do on your fan pages is not yours by rights, it is the property of Facebook, which at any point they can take away from you. An An expert from Jeff Bullas reports a fan page with an extremely high number of fans that was taken down:

Break the rules and you pay the price. Recently the pop culture blog and website “The Cool Hunter” had its Facebook page with 700,000 fans shutdown. This was due to “copyright issues” according to Facebook.

This goes to show that it could happen to anyone and you need to be prepared for it, which is why you shouldn’t base all of your marketing efforts on Facebook alone. Other companies such as Twitter and Google have their own social media platforms that you need to utilize in order to get even more exposure.

Also, read the Facebook terms and conditions so that you know what the rules are. You cannot be ignorant about them when you have acquired a horde of fans. Any asset that you have online such as a very big fan page you need to protect, and a way of doing that is not to step on the toes of the Facebook moderators. Perhaps a safety measure would be to e-mail the Facebook staff with questions if a certain change or addition to the page that you want to make is acceptable. You don’t have to do this for every change that you make, but only for those that you think are in the gray area.

Facebook Marketing Can Be Cheap

Marketing on Facebook doesn’t have to be a very big investment, because fan pages require no hiring of an app developer, writer, and you don’t have to buy advertising space. All you need to do is create a comprehensive fan page that clearly describes what your business is about, and post updates that are of value to your target audience. For example, if you own a fishing store then you could post updates that explain how to catch different fish, and what fishing rods are best used for certain types of fishing. Then you would plug in a link to your store where you offer those fishing rods. This way you provide helpful information to your audience and get to make some sales. The thing with online marketing is that the main competitors in your niche can always outspend you, but if you are creative you can still get a significant volume of traffic; as an expert from CBS News suggests:

The reality is that the big brands will always be able to outspend you. So you have to outsmart them. Work the local angle and create content that really speaks to your customers.

Even if you cannot outsource your Facebook marketing in the beginning then you should still create a fan page, then as you increase your profits you can re-invest them into a marketing company that can handle the Facebook marketing for you.